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Tuesday, February 15, 2005

you're not in this movie

The foxy public demands some moments spent on Ong-Bak, which I saw over the weekend at the movie theater. It was basically insane. Not like "Oh, let's try 2% instead of skim in my coffee today"-insane you sad poor moppets. Insane insane. Like fighting with your legs flaming on fire insane. I know, I know. Plot spoiler! But when you see it, you'll still say in spite of everything, "That man's legs are on fire. And he's still going after that bad guy!" -- maybe in not such awkward, inelegant sentences, but all the same...

The story barely matters; the movie is basically a list out of some brainstorm session for the star, Tony Jaa playing Ting, the good guy, to show off his Muay Thai glory. Muay Thai is a Thai form of martial arts, which uses lots of elbows and knees for maximum ouchies. Supposedly there are no digital effects or wires or anything. I'm not a fan of the genre or anything, but man, thoroughly entertaining wowee after zowee. Here's trailer and an interview.

Also watched Kurosawa's Ikiru (Doomed to Live) and Fellini's La Strada (The Road) which were incredibly deep and affecting. I love allmovie's "mood" descriptions: 'only human' 'in a minor key'. Both films are haunting me yet.